Context:

1. Prevention of Abandonment at Birth in Ukraine:Consultation Points and Mother & Child Social Centers

2. Context: • Significant number of children losing their families’ care: • Every year about 8,000 children are left without parental care • Families failing at birth: • In 2007, 1027 children were abandoned (vs. 599in 2011) • Families faced vulnerabilities such as: • Lack of housing, facing poverty • No social “safety nets” – lack of contact with family members • Parents having dependencies, facing violence or being in conflict with the law • Parents not prepared to provide care to children – don’t have skills to parent

3. Practical Steps: Joint Order of Ministry of Family, Youth & Sports and Ministry of Health (2007) Coordination of Social Centresfor Families, Children and Youth & Health Facilities to Prevent Young Child Abandonment • Development of facilities and social consulting points of centers of social services for family, children and youthin maternity wards, women’s medical facilities and baby homes • Provision of social support to pregnant women, or women and families with newborns who are in difficult life circumstances • Reintegration into Alternative family care for newborns who were abandoned or young children (to 3 years) that were in baby homes

4. Development of Practice: Project InitiativeState System Steps: • Introduction of interagency mechanism of interaction of social and medical workers • Setting up a network of consultative desks of centres of social services for family, children and youth at maternity hospitals, antenatal clinics and infant homes • Setting up a network of social mother and child centres • Developing methods of social work and training experts

5. Interaction between Social Services & Health Care Bodies: Functions divided: Medical workers: • Referral of intended abandonment of the newborn or abandonment proper on the same day • Informing patients in difficult life circumstances about available social services • Assistance in preparing necessary medical documents Socialworkers: • Direct work with women who have announced their intention to abandon the child or women who are preparing documents for abandonment • Providing social services and ensuring social supervision • If necessary, placement of the woman (in cooperation with the health care body) in the social mother and child centre.

6. Women’s Medical Clinics Consultation Points: Identification of & Emergency Support for Vulnerable Women at risk of abandoning Maternity Wards Baby Homes Referral • Social Centers for Mother & Child: • Provision of Housing support • Work with pregnant women and mothers with children up to 18 months

7. Center for Social Services for Families, Children and Youth’s Consultation Points 696 Consultation Points in Ukraine’s regions in: • 554 Maternity Wards • 129 Women’s Medical Clinics • 13 Baby Homes Key Activities: • Provision of psychological & social support to pregnant women, mothers with newborns (including underage mothers), parents who have children with development problems or whose newborn died • Reintegration of newborns abandoned or young children (up to 3 years) living in baby homes into families (biological parents, foster parents, guardians, adoptive parents, small, family-type homes) • Information and Educational initiatives to develop responsible parenting

8. Consultation Points: Results In Birthing Facilities: • 2011: 544 women who were considering abandonment kept their child (63% of all approached) 155 of these women were under regular consultation with Centers for Social Services • 2012 (first 9 mos.): 487 women considering abandonment changed their mind (61% of total approached) 115 of these under regular consultation of the Centres for Social Services Referred to Social Center for Mother and Child: • 2011: 48 women from those first approaching consultation points • 2012 (first 9 mos): 19 women

9. Social Centers for Mother & Child Located in more than half of Ukraine’s Regions: 16 centers

10. Social Centers for Mother & Child Key Activities: Working with women 7-9 months pregnant or mothers with children up to 18 months • Processing or reinstating documents • Support of Housing Issues • Support in Employment or Education Options • Provision of Parenting Skills/ Independent Living Skills • Support in receiving Rehabilitation/ Social Service Programmes

11. Social Centers for Mother & Child: Results For the first 9 months of 2012: 403 women were referred to centers, 377 women stayed in centres • 33 Pregnant women • 165 women with children from birth to 18 months After being in the Centers: • 29 women returned to their husbands (partners) (vs. 2010 – 36 women) • 70 women found independent lives with their children (vs. 2010 – 68 women) • 26 returned to their parents (vs. 2010 – 20 women) • 13 married (vs. 2010 – 7 women) • 5 relinquished their children • Children were taken away from 3 women • 94 women were under social counseling of centers of social services for families, children and youth (vs. 2010 – 115 women)

12. Impact: Abandonment at Birth Significantly Decreased

13. Conclusions: • Social and psychological support of women who intend to abandon their newborns is the main component of abandonment prevention • Successful introduction of the state model of prevention of early social orphanhood in Ukraine has been made possible due to cooperation with non-governmental and international organisations, as well as the interagency mechanism • Prevention of early social orphanhood is an important component of responsible parenting, therefore mandatory measures include prevention of family troubles, preparation of teenagers and youth for family life, responsible parenting, etc.

14. Next Steps: For more efficient work aimed at prevention of early child abandonment in Ukraine requires the following steps: • Inclusion of social workers in village and town councils, • Needs assessment as the main mechanism to identify crisis situations, • Adoption of standards of social services and development of the market of social services